Nico Callewaert wrote:
I know there is no easy answer to my question, but I was wondering if there is something like a max. number of connections latest releases of Firebird can handle ? I know it depends on hardware, working memory, etc... But even you have enough memory and the best hardware, I guess the number of connections have still a limit, so Firebird can work smoothly ? I'm talking about permanent connections to the database?
Dimitry Sibiryakov answers:
SuperServer has hardcoded limit in 1024 connections. Other architectures are limited by OS TCP/IP stack. To get more you must use clustering.
Vlad Khorsun corrects it:
Generally, there is no built-in limit in the engine. Only practical one - amount of memory.
It's not true that SuperServer has hardcoded general limit of 1024 connections. I've established 5000 conections using XNET (local protocol on Windows) and 64-bit build of Firebird. INET (procotol that uses TCP/IP) have internal limit of 1024 sockets, yes, but this is not engine's limit. WNET (old Windows network protocol) is limited by 255 pipe instances. XNET have no limit.
Note, 32-bit build of FB SS on windows will reach its limit of 2GB of virtual address space near after 840 connections.